


Harry Potter and the Weaving Lines of Fate Part 1

by yinyangswings



Series: Harry Potter and the Weaving Lines of Fate [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Attempted Sexual Assault, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, First War with Voldemort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Past Child Abuse, Wizarding Wars (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-02-24 18:15:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22002295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yinyangswings/pseuds/yinyangswings
Summary: Fate is funny. One would expect that they are straight and guide a person down the road that they is ahead of them. However it isn't true. They aren't straight. The weave and twist, entwining different souls together and bringing them together.This is a series I have had on other sites, and figured I would add it here.
Relationships: Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Harry Potter and the Weaving Lines of Fate [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1583797
Kudos: 8





	1. The Beginning

Moria watched from the compartment on the train departed from the station waving at her anxious uncles and aunt, many of who were either crying or about to cry. She stared at them and continued waving, a twinge hitting her heart as she waved back, a slight smile on her face. But other than that, her face was void of any emotion. She hadn't shown any emotion in years…it was too dangerous to show emotion. She watched as the scenery continued to skirt past the window anticipation filling her.  
  
Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.  
  
She had never heard of that school till this summer…had never known about that she was a witch. It had been quite a shock to see an old woman in strange garb standing at the foot of her entrance. She introduced herself as Minerva McGonagall. The older woman then informed her and her family what she was truly capable of, and had suggested that she enroll in the school that would train her powers. When she had she had never seen her uncles and aunts argue about whether not she could go. Eventually they conceded and after that she had a local witch help her buy the books that she had needed. She had promised to send letters once she got there, granted she wasn't sure if her aunts and uncles would appreciate an owl sending their mail…but whatever, there wasn't a whole lot of choice that they had. She pulled out an aged picture, staring at the man and woman in the picture, before shaking her head, placing it back into the book. Suddenly the door to her compartment opened and her light brown eyes watched in curiosity as a pair of kids her age walked in.  
  
"-that ignorant, selfish jerk! AUGH!"  
  
"Lily, I can't agree with you more." A young boy with long black hair and a rather large nose replied. The red head girl who apparently was Lily nodded then noticed that Moria was now staring at her inquisitively. Her face soon after became the same color of her hair.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry! I didn't know-!" She began to stutter out and Moria waved her hand nonchalantly.  
  
"Meh. It's okay. You can sit here if you want."  
  
"You sure we won't be a bother?" Lily asked. Moria looked around at the empty seats.  
  
"I'm pretty sure the invisible people can make room." She said sarcastically giving her a small smile. Lily smiled and then dragging the boy in sat down next to her.  
  
"Hi my name's Lily Evan's, muggle-born." The girl said pleasantly. Moria smiled.  
  
"Moria Prescott, muggle-born as well. Pleased to meet you too." She replied then looked at the boy who was staring at the floor.  
  
"What about you?" she asked. He glanced over at her.  
  
"Severus Snape." He said simply not making eye-contact with her. She blinked then heard the door open again. The trio looked up and saw a girl with dark hair peering in.  
  
"Um…can I join you?" the girl asked. Severus rolled his eyes but both Lily and Moria nodded. The girl beamed.  
  
"Hello. My name is Alice Lahr!" she said cheerfully as she sat down, clutching a toad to her. Moria looked at the three in slight amusement.  
  
Yep. Things were definitely looking up.

* * *

  
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat that was currently placed on top of her dark-brunette head called out. The table that apparently she would sit at cheered loudly. She hopped off the stool and walked over to her table, plopping next to Lily, who smiled.  
  
"That's great! You, Alice, and me are in the same House!" she cheered happily. Moria smirked at her.  
  
"Too bad Severus isn't in our house." Alice commented though to Moria it seemed that she was actually relieved that the boy wasn't in Gryffindor. Lily nodded apparently not seeing the look. She glared at the two boys that were sitting near them.  
  
"But why did THEY have to be in our house?" she spat out spitefully. Moria shrugged.  
  
"Well let's not spoil the fun right away." Alice said in a sing-song voice. Lily glanced at the boys and saw that they were moving down. She stiffened enough for Moria to notice and she sighed.  
  
"Alright Lily, switch with me." She ordered and the girl followed instructions sliding to where Moria had been sitting and allowing Moria to take her spot. The two boys stopped next to her.  
  
"Hi! My name is James Potter!" the boy who wore the glasses said to her grinning from ear to ear. She looked at him with a bored expression, pausing only to clap as another person was sent to their table.  
  
"Moria Prescott."

"Where are you from?" 

"Scotland." She replied, brow rising. He reminded her of her uncles. "Sorry but I'm not switching seats with you." She said before he even asked. He frowned as did the other boy that had followed him.  
  
"Aw, come on." The other one said.  
  
"What's your name?" she asked smoothly, gaining an <i>'hmph'</i> from Lily.  
  
"Sirius Black." He replied easily giving her an innocent smile. She smirked.  
  
"Hello Mr. Black. Sorry but I can't. I'm under strict orders not to." She replied just as easily, mentally grinning when he realized the sweet innocent smile wasn't working. She heard Lily and Alice giggle softly. And for once in so many years…  
  
She was happy.

Maybe this was a start of a new beginning.


	2. Five Years Later

"Ugh! That loathsome, pig-headed, little git!"  
  
"And there she is." Moria stated as she spotted the familiar redhead. "So what did James do this time?" Moria looked grinning slightly as they walked through the corridor.  
  
"Just being himself! He acts like he some big hotshot!" Lily spat out, her red hair bouncing as she stormed slightly ahead of Alice and Moria. Alice glanced at Moria with a smile.  
  
"But you've already said he is a hotshot…plenty of times." She responded jokingly. Lily merely groaned in response.  
  
"Then whatever word that I haven't called that git. That's what I think of Potter right now!" Lily growled out. Moria couldn't help it, offering a teasing grin.  
  
"Lily, it's been five years and you've called him every known name in the book. I think it's high time you just call him James. That would really surprise him." She responded and Lily finally whirled around her green eyes blazing.  
  
"Bloody hell no! Why would I call such a dreadful boy, by his first name?!" she hissed out and Moria all but nearly burst out laughing.  
  
"It was a joke Lily…relax." Moria said easily raising her hands up. Lily's demeanor softened until finally her shoulders sagged.  
  
"Merlin…I'm sorry." she said softly. Moria shrugged and Alice smiled softly. Lily then looked at Moria in curiosity.  
  
"I'm curious though. How do you manage to deal with those 4 prats? If you ask me they're simply intolerable." Lily said slowing down and wedging herself between the two girls. Moria shrugged again.  
  
"You spend five seconds with my family, and it's like that every day." She replied with a chuckle before contemplating. "For Remus and Peter, they're really nice, so you don't have to judge those two so harshly. For Sirius and James, I guess it's because I play Quidditch with them. I don't know. Granted Sirius does manage to get under my skin. But I manage to ignore it." Moria responded easily, and then glanced up at the clock.  
  
"Bloody hell! We better hurry or we'll be late for Potions!" she hissed out. Alice laughed as they took off running.  
  
" **WE'LL** be in trouble. Lily will not~!" she joked out earning a glare from the redhead. Moria grinned.  
  
"True! Very true! Well we'll just have to hope that Lily will manage to smooth things over with Slughorn!"  
  
"Brilliant!"  
  
"Oh would you two knock it off!" Lily huffed out, her face now red. The two girls laughed loudly as they finally slid into potions with a minute to spare. Snape was already seated where the four would sit. He looked up and smiled as Lily sat down.  
  
"Hi Lily."  
  
"Hi Severus." She replied kindly. He glanced at the other two and though he smiled, the smile didn't reach his eyes.  
  
"Prescott. Lahr."  
  
"Snape." They responded as well, sitting down in their spots, keeping their eyes trained onto the table. Moria never understood it. Severus Snape treated them like vermin. With her and Alice it was like they were covered in mud and feces. And while Moria was used to it by many Slytherin classmates as she was muggle-born or as they had so affectionately called her 'mudblood bitch', Alice was a pureblood. Even if they were in different houses, should it really have made such a difference? Moria sighed resting her cheek on her hand, forcing herself not to dwell on it. Slughorn had entered the class room. And like always he zeroed in on their table.  
  
She should have really considered switching with someone else.

* * *

  
Sirius glanced from the tree that he had perched on, currently reading up on his transfiguration homework. He grinned when he saw Lily, Moria, and Alice.  
  
"Oi, Prongs! Evan's dead ahead!" He called out looking down at his mates. James perked up from reading his own textbook, before running his fingers through his hair. Sirius grinned before jumping down, nearly landing on Peter and Remus.  
  
"Watch it Padfoot!" Peter wailed slightly. Sirius merely rolled his eyes and straightened his uniform which at that moment was only his white undershirt, his black slacks and his tie which was only resting around his shoulders, still untied. He also ran a hand through his hair though unlike James was merely to make sure he didn't have any bugs or leaves in it.  
  
"Oh come on Wormtail. I love watching this." Sirius joked as the three girls started walking past them. James got up.  
  
"Evans!" he called out. Lily rolled her eyes and kept on walking.  
  
"Hi to you too James!" Moria called out teasingly, to which he merely laughed at. She waved as she followed the two, James doing the same following the girls, still calling out to Lily. Remus sighed.  
  
"I swear. He doesn't give up does he?"  
  
"He wouldn't be Prongs if he wasn't." Sirius replied before following James.

* * *

  
"Hey Alice."  
  
"Yeah?" Alice asked looking up from the book that she had gotten from the library. Moria was resting on her bed, throwing up a soccer ball that had been sent to her. She didn't really have time to use it, however she did find it something that would calm her. She continued to stare at the ceiling.  
  
"Do you ever get the feeling that there's something wrong about Snape?" she asked stopping the ball. There was silence and then a sigh.  
  
"About Lily you mean?" she heard Alice ask. Moria turned over and. Alice was silent again.  
  
"I think about it a lot. I mean I know those two have been friends since they were kids…and Snape was the one that told Lily she was a witch. But some of the stuff he does…it's just creepy. It's like he's obsessed with her or something." She said sitting on Moria's bed and glanced at Lily who had fallen asleep already, her bed covered in parchments, textbooks, and quills. Grinning Moria and Alice carefully floated the items back to side where they belonged.  
  
"Obsessed is a nice word for it. But…I don't know whether or not she knows or I should even tell her the rumor that Snape's been involved in the Dark Arts." Moria replied, stretching her arm and immediately regretting it as the bruise located on her arm twinged in pain, and tried to mask it, however Alice noticed.  
  
"Did Malfoy and his gang corner you again?" She asked. Moria didn't offer a response. "You should really tell someone about that M." Alice chastised. Moria shook her head.  
  
"I can handle them. Trust me on that." She said softly. Alice shook her head.  
  
"Lily might not have been there…but I've been there Moria. I've **SEEN** what they've done to you. And then you go to Madam Pomfrey and lie to her. Why not tell James or Sirius?" Alice begged quietly. Moria shook her head.  
  
"I don't need anyone else being involved with this. I still feel bad for them scaring you as bad as they did. And knowing those two, if they find out they'll hex the boys to next week and then beat their arses. And as much as that seems to be a good thing, I don't need anyone getting hurt or get into a long detention because of it." Moria replied then grinned. "Besides I think the only reason those two like me is because I'm the best Keeper they've had. I mean remember our first year? The Keeper then couldn't stop Quaffle from going into the hoops at all. It's a miracle we won **ANYTHING**." She finished. Alice sighed knowing that she couldn't convince her to say anything. With a sigh she fell back onto the bed and then giggled.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh nothing." Alice replied a small blush on her face. Moria blinked then grinned.  
  
"You're thinking about that Longbottom boy aren't you? He's a year ahead of us Alice." Moria said and grinned as Alice's face turned bright red.  
  
"Please don't say anything."  
  
"I won't. Relax. You've had a crush on him since 3rd year. I didn't tell him then did I?" Moria teased. Alice giggled and hid her face in her hands. Hours later Moria was still awake, listening to the other girls in her dorm sleep. The full moon lit up their room in an ominous glow. She sighed and rolled over again. No matter what she did she couldn't fall asleep. Sighing she sat up and went to the window. The clock tower could be seen from there and she could see it read 5:30. She groaned quietly.  
  
"I have a test tomorrow in transfiguration…" she hissed out angry at herself. She glanced down and blinked then pressed her face closer to the glass.  
  
Was that…a dog? Walking next to a stag? Okay…she may not understand the magical creature relationships that well…but COME ON the two species hated each other. So why were those two even walking together. Her eyes widened as she began to watch the two transform into more human-like figures. However they entered the school before she could see anymore. She sat down on the hard surface of the stone.  
  
What the hell did she just see?


	3. Where Loyalties Lie

"Hey Prescott? What are you looking up? Didn't expect to find you in the library."  
  
"The same goes for you James." She replied looking up at the two guys then back at the book. "And if you must know it's about transfiguring into animals."  
  
"Oh. You trying to turn into an animagus or something?" Sirius asked grinning. Moria shrugged.  
  
"Well I have another test from McGonagall coming up."  
  
"I don't remember that being one of the things she recently taught us."  
  
"I'm also trying to figure out how two students managed to turn into a dog and a stag." She said still looking into the book and not seeing the two boys stiffen.  
  
"You're joking right?" James stammered out.  
  
"Nope. Saw them last night. Well to be honest I didn't actually see **_them_**. I just saw the two walk into the courtyard, start turning back into humans before they vanished into the school. Do you two know anything...about…it?" She trailed off when she turned around she realized she was now the only one in that row. She stayed there throughout her free period until she sighed and looked at the time.  
  
"Better get to potions. Those two are probably already there." She murmured and after collecting her books and placing the other books in the correct places, began to walk out.

* * *

  
It was later on as she passed the courtyard, coming from another class, when she heard loud yelling.  
  
"Scourgify!" a voice she only knew that it was James called out. Laughter followed before a loud…angry yell.  
  
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Definitely Lily.  
  
"Alright Evans." She heard James say. She rounded the corner and sighed.  
  
"Again?" she hissed out. She then began to watch James and Lily begin to argue. Logic dictated that she should stay out of this. Lily had managed to do quite well before hand, besides the fact that Lily could be a rather nasty person to get on the wrong side of her wand. However her honor told her to get closer and make sure nothing happened. Honor won. She began to walk up and started to hear the argument a bit clearer.  
  
"-arrogant bullying toerag Potter! Leave him alone!"  
  
"I will if you go out with me Evans! Go on…go out with me and I'll never lay wand on old Snivelly again."  
  
"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and a giant squid!" Lily responded cruelly and she smirked and heard Sirius chuckle.  
  
"Bad luck Prongs…" he commented. Suddenly Moria saw Sirius's demeanor change.  
  
"Oi!" he called out. "OI PRONGS!"  
  
"Padfoot what-!" James began to ask but was cut off as a hex sliced his cheek. He glared at the perpetrator. Snape merely smirked at James. Moria withheld a groan. Couldn't people learn? James merely glared and before Snape could react he was turned over and floating in the air, revealing his gray underwear to the school. Despite herself Moria snickered slightly and saw to some amusement that Lily was also trying not to giggle. Quickly her angry demeanor returned.  
  
"Put him down NOW, Potter!" she ordered.  
  
"Certainly." James responded and flicked his wand and Severus fell into an ungraceful heap on the ground. Slowly he stood up and once again his wand was at the ready.  
  
 _"The guy doesn't learn does he?"_ Moria watched in boredom as Snape began to utter another hex. However a spell got to him first.  
  
"LOCOMOTER MORTIS!" James rang out and Snape froze, his limbs snapping to his side. Moria looked at Evan's in astonishment as she pulled out her wand and aimed it at James.  
  
"Leave…him…ALONE!" she called out.  
  
"Aw Evan's…don't make me hex you." He sighed out.  
  
"Take the curse off him then." She said pointing at Snape while her wand was still trained at James' nose. He pouted like a small child.  
  
"Fine." And with that he flicked his wand at Snape. He sighed and walked up to the boy that was slowly regaining feeling back in his limbs. "There you go…you're lucky Evans was here Snivellus." James said in a bored tone. Moria saw fury in Snape's eyes as well as his face turning bright red.  
  
"I don't **NEED** help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" he called out and in a second she saw red. How dare he? She began to storm towards him but stopped when Lily spoke up.  
  
" **Fine**. I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash my pants if I were you…Snivellus." She called out, turning around about ready to go. James however was now angry. He grabbed Snape by the collar pointing his wand at him.  
  
"Apologize to Evans!" he snarled out. Lily turned around.  
  
"I don't want YOU to make him apologize!" You're as bad as he is."  
  
"WHAT?! I'd never call you a…a…" he started to say but then trailed off trying to figure out how to say it. "…a you-know-what…." He said softly. She put her hands on her hips.  
  
"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you just got off your broomstick, showing off that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can… I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it." She hissed out glaring daggers at him.  
  
"You…make…me…SICK…" she continued and then turned on her heel and began to walk away, James calling out to her. He stared at her form.  
  
"Geez…what is it with her?" he asked. Moria wasn't sure who was more stupid at the moment. James for not getting the clue. Or Snape for essentially ending the friendship. Sirius walked up to him resting his arm on James's shoulder.  
  
"Well reading in-between the lines…"he said thinking about it "I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited mate." He said. Moria groaned. A bit? Reading in-between her line, Lily thought he was _EXTREMELY_ conceited. James was silent for a moment.  
  
"Right…" he said and then turned his attention back to Snape who was trying to escape. Moria groaned and then began to walk to Potions class. She didn't really care at this point about Severus. Even when she heard laughter she continued walking.

* * *

  
"And he said that to her?! Why that lousy prat!" Alice hissed out during lunch, glancing apologetically to Lily. "Don't listen to a word he said Lily. You don't deserve that name."  
  
"It's not like it isn't true. I am a muggle-born."  
  
"I am too Alice. We don't care if Slytherin's have a different opinion on us. We are who we are." Moria said. Lily looked at her confused.  
  
"Wait. Slytherin's called you….that name?" she asked worriedly. Moria smirked.  
  
"Well they added slut and bitch after that…but yes they have." She said shooting Alice a warning not to say anything else. Lily's eyes widened.  
  
"Did Snape ever-?"  
  
"Nope. He just normally glared at me. Lily it's okay. Honest." She said softly, Lily however looked furious.  
  
"It is not okay Mori! That name is one thing! Adding those words to it after is quite another!" Lily hissed out. Mori shrugged.  
  
"Lily…I promise you I'm used to being called names and such. Especially those names." She said softly and Lily looked at her in alarm, she noticed Alice stiffen as well.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"It's a long story."  
  
"Well, start telling!" Lily hissed out. Moria shrugged.  
  
"Let's just say my childhood wasn't really the happiest alright? I have most of my family nowadays, but there was one that never wanted me to be around." Moria replied trying to keep her mouth shut on all of it. She had gotten friends…finally. She didn't want to lose them. Not like last time. Lily and Alice clearly wanted to know more, but one look at Moria's now smooth and cold eyes told them that was all they were going to get. They sighed in resignation.  
  
"Alright…that story is good enough…for now." Alice said. Moria sighed in relief and then continued eating her meal.

* * *

  
"Bloody hell Prongs! Do you think Prescott knows about…us?" Sirius hissed out as they glanced over at the table where Moria, Lily, and Alice were sitting.  
  
"I hope not, mate! This won't end well if she does!"  
  
"What are you two babbling about?" Remus asked as he stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth slowly, the pain of his newest scratches from the night before transformation evident.  
  
"Moria saw us shifting." Sirius tried to say casually, however both Peter and Remus choked on their food.  
  
"You're kidding!"  
  
"No! Would we be glancing over at her nearly every minute if we were?"  
  
"Well Lily is over there and you could easily be trying to go out with Moria or Alice and trying to observe them." Remus interjected earning a glare from both of them.  
  
"Besides if she does know it's you two don't you think she would have said something…or asked about it? You two are only making yourselves look even more suspicious." Remus stated and glanced at Moria smirking as she finally noticed the stares and glanced over at them in confusion. She then blinked and looked a bit harder at them. Confused he turned around and saw that Peter was now munching on a biscuit looking more and more like a rat eating a crumb. Remus nudged him slightly. Peter blinked then stopped and began munching normally. Moria blinked and shook her head, undeniable confusion blatant on her face. He had to hold back on chuckling.

* * *

  
"Alice…does…does Moria ever tell you about her family?" Lily asked quietly as they watched Moria getting plants for herbology from the lake, working on their own homework. Alice glanced at Lily then sighed, shaking her head.  
  
"To be honest…I've only ever heard her mention her uncles and aunt…I've never heard her mention her parents. Or why at some times she's so withdrawn and cold towards us. It's like her emotions don't know what to do at some times. And during those times it's…frightening." Alice concluded watching as Moria lifted a rock, and then with a look of disgust slowly put it back in its place.  
  
"Alright…next question. When we were talking…about that name…Moria looked at you as though to say not to say a word. I'm missing something, aren't I?"  
  
"Lily-!"  
  
"No. Don't _'Lily'_ me. She's one of my best friends Alice." Lily hissed out. Alice sighed.  
  
"You didn't hear this from me…you heard this from Slytherin's or somewhere else." Alice murmured. Her voice low. Lily nodded slightly then scooted over, pretending to look at Alice's notes.  
  
"Malfoy…and his gang…it's always that group. I don't know why but Lucius seems to get some joy out of tormenting her, and I think it's also to impress Narcissa and Bellatrix. But Merlin, they've used her as a punching bag Lily." Alice hissed out and saw Lily stiffen. "When I was there and Moria saw them coming…she hid me. Told me not to make a sound or move a muscle. And I watched as Lucius slam her into a tree calling her all sorts of obscenities. She retorted something, I didn't quite hear it, and he slapped her. Hard. The rest were laughing. But I guess Moria's method of staying silent afterwads worked on them. They got bored pretty quickly and just left, like they had just been chatting with her." Alice remarked bitterly.  
  
"Why didn't you two tell me?! Why didn't she tell anyone?! Bloody hell, Potter and Black are absolute gits but they wouldn't have let her go through that!"  
  
"I told her that Lily. But she said she could handle it. I don't know if something similar happened in her home…but she didn't act fearful or shocked by it. She looked like she was used to it. And you've seen her scars on her back…do you think…" Alice trailed off not wanting to think of what Moria's family was capable of. Lily stared at her and then at Moria who was still searching for plants.  
  
What was Moria hiding from them?

* * *

  
"Oi! Watch it mudblood!" a harsh voice called out as he slammed into Moria causing the books that were in her hands to splatter on the ground. Moria simply rolled her eyes and proceeded to pick them up. However as she reached for it, her Transfiguration textbook was stepped on and held on place to the ground by a black shoe. She sighed and stood up locking onto gray eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry Malfoy. I didn't know your ego was so huge that it couldn't fit in the great hall." Moria drawled unimpressed. His eyes flashed in anger and she merely crossed her arms, one eyebrow raised as though begging him to do something in front of teachers and students. Instead he merely smirked.  
  
"Well…you've got quite a sharp tongue for a putrid mudblood." He merely replied.  
  
"And you've got platinum blonde hair that makes you look like girl. Not my problem." She responded cheerily. "I'm surprised people don't mistake you for a girl. Oh wait…first year they DID. Shocker. Doesn't really help that your two lackeys are girls." She continued shrugging nonchalantly.  
  
"Listen you little mudblood whore-!"  
  
"Ooohhh…another insult? I swear Malfoy, is that all you can do? Because if so can you kindly move? You're wasting my time." She said evenly. Lucius's lips curled making him look like an animal. She kept her gaze on his eyes him. Finally he sniffed at her and brushed past her, shoving her slightly as he walked away followed by the glaring sisters Bellatrix and Narcissa. Moria sighed and then picked up her book brushing off the dirt. She then proceeded to walk to her class. Unknown and unseen by her, a black dog had watched the entire scene.  
  
And his grey eyes held incredible amount of fury before he vanished back into the shadows.


	4. Secrets

"Prescott! Prescott! Moria!" A masculine voice rang out in the entrance hallway. Moria turned around in confusion, blinking as Sirius pushed past a few first years, resituating his knapsack. He grabbed her arm slightly.  
  
"Can I talk to you? In private?" he asked. She looked at him, confused but nodded and followed him to a quieter location. She situated her books shifting the weight of her Potions and Defense against the Dark Arts Books.  
  
"Yes Black?" she asked looking at him curiously.  
  
"Why didn't you tell any of us about Malfoy and his harpies harassing you?!" He spat out angrily and at first she looked surprised before looking at him sternly.  
  
"I didn't think it was necessary."  
  
"Necessary?" He asked in shock. She shrugged.  
  
"Yes, necessary. I can handle it."  
  
"It's not right Moria!"  
  
"My personal problems are just that. My problems. I don't want my friends to get involved or hurt because of me." Moria replied softly. "What they say or do just shows how insecure and shallow they are. " She continued.  
  
"I don't care how much it shows that they're shallow! What if they hurt you badly!?" he hissed out glancing quickly to the side as several students, entered the hall laughing at a joke that had been said. He yanked her a bit farther into the hall. Moria looked at him in amusement.  
  
"Black…" She started to say and then blew out a steady hiss. "Sirius, look. I'll be fine. I promise I will. If not I'll be the first to tell you." She reassured. He looked at her, with a look that still looked unconvinced but then nodded. She then cocked her head.  
  
"By the way, how did you know that Malfoy and his fan-group were annoying me?" she asked and watched him first stiffen, then turn bright red and looked away. She looked at him, narrowing her eyes in confusion.  
  
"U…Uh I just heard around." He stammered out quickly. She looked at him a bit more patronizingly, her arms tightening on her books.  
  
"That's odd considering that no one other than Alice knew and I was normally in a secluded area when they would try and berate me." She said slowly and saw he was panicking.  
  
"Uh…Gotta go!" he said hurriedly and before she could ask what was wrong with him, rushed away. She blinked and looked at the empty spot that Sirius once stood. She pursued her lips together in concentration. The most recent time that Malfoy had jeered at her had been in the great halls. And no one had been near her.  
  
Then it began to dawn on her.  
  
The growl she had heard as she walked away but had thought it had been her stomach. James and Sirius panicking when she said she had been looking at animagus. That Sirius, James, and Peter were always tired after a full moon and Remus was always in a rough shape afterwards. How Sirius knew about Malfoy.  
  
"Holy Merlin." She whispered.

* * *

  
"I think I revealed to Prescott that I'm an animagus." Sirius said suddenly as they all sat in their room. The three other boys all choked and gaped at him.  
  
"Why did you do that?!" James asked as Peter glanced at the door. Was he imagining things? Or had he heard something?  
  
"Guys?"  
  
"Do you KNOW how much you could get in trouble?!" Remus asked angrily.  
  
"Guys."  
  
"How did you reveal that of all things?!" James finally snapped and Sirius glared at them.  
  
"I was walking around in my dog form a little while ago, and I overheard Malfoy and my **_darling_** cousins harassing Prescott. I asked her today why she hadn't told anyone about it. And she asked how I even knew. I completely forgot that I had been the only one there witnessing it."  
  
"So how does that make you think she knows that you're a dog?"  
  
"Guys!"  
  
"What Wormtail?! What is so important!?"James finally spat out in annoyance, Peter only managed to point. All the boys looked at the door and saw a smaller, feminine form standing there, leaning on the door frame with smirk on her face.  
  
Moria Prescott to be more precise.  
  
"You know if you're going to blurt out that all of you, sans Lupin are unregistered animagi, make sure that I don't know, someone isn't waiting outside to talk to you guys." She said easily before she was grabbed and subsequently yanked in.  
  
"You know this could be taken in a wrong way right?"  
  
"Sssshhhh! Now listen, Prescott! You better not tell anyone or-!"  
  
"Why in the world would I tell?" she asked simply to the confusion of the boys. She merely shrugged.  
  
"If I was going to tell, I would have told a teacher beforehand. So considering McGonagall isn't here yelling at you guys, the presumption should be that I didn't spill the beans. Besides, I do consider you my friends. I see no reason in telling. I was just curious." She explained, shrugging her shoulders again. The boys just gaped at her. She promptly straightened and brushed off the unseen dirt on her sweatshirt.  
  
"Look I have secrets just like you. And I would hate to have someone blab them to the world. So about you three being animagi and Remus being a werewolf, my lips are sealed." She said with a grin as Lupin gaped at her.  
  
"How did you know-!"  
  
"Please I only saw James and Sirius in their animal forms during the full moon. And forgive me but you look like crap after each full moon. It isn't hard to figure it out." She stated. "But like I said, my lips are sealed." She grinned and then left laughing at herself.  
  
"Holy Merlin. Did that really happen?" Peter finally managed to ask after several long minutes of silence. The other boys looked at each other before nodding.  
  
"I think it did. I think it did."

* * *

  
Moria walked down the hall quickly trying to stay out of the rain. Merlin she hated the rain. Reminded her of that night. That night when everything changed. Suddenly she saw a form in the rain trying to move around a bunch of older and seemingly meaner looking Slytherin's. It took her a few minutes to see that the one trying to move around them was also a Slytherin. Suddenly one of them shoved the other. Moria sighed knowing she couldn't let that happen. Setting her books down, she left the safety of the hall and rushed into the grass grabbing a closed fist before it connected to the boy.  
  
"Alright, knock it off. He's from your own house. I think you can get along with him at least." She growled out. The Slytherin boy rounded at her but she easily caught that foot as he spun around. Now off balance she shoved him and watched him pitch to the side and land in mud. She looked at the other Slytherin's with a bored look.  
  
"If you don't want to end up like your buddy, I suggest you get your snake butts in gear and leave." She hissed out.  
  
"Didn't know that he had a Gryffindor friend. He's a coward." One of them hissed right back. She merely smirked.  
  
"He ain't a friend. I've never met him. But I hate seeing people being bullied by slime like you. Now beat it." She ordered coldly. The boys looked about ready to fight but then proceeded to leave, grumbling. She snorted then turned to help the boy who was trying in vain to retrieve his fallen books from the puddles. She squatted down to retrieve his ink and quill.  
  
"You shouldn't have helped me." The boy said looking down at the ground.  
  
"I know. But I can't stand to see anyone in pain." She replied picking up a few pieces of parchment. She glanced at the boys' and started suddenly.  
  
"You're Black's brother aren't you? Regulus Black?" Moria asked the boy who looked nearly identical to Sirius only with paler skin. His eyes narrowed angrily.  
  
"Look, thanks for helping me. But in the future, don't okay?" he asked, ignoring her question. She simply shrugged.  
  
"I hate to break it to you, but I won't stop helping you if I walk into those Slytherin boys bullying you."  
  
"And why is that?"  
  
"Because I know what it's like to be hurt and no one notices. And when someone finally does, it's too late." She replied. He started and looked at her. Realizing she said too much, she stood up and helped retrieve the remaining things before leaving, without saying a word. He merely stared at her, and then at the soaked parchment, quill, and ink.

* * *

  
Moria sighed as she entered the shower stalls. It was thankfully empty. She sighed, taking off her pants and pushing them into a basket along with the rest of her clothes. She stopped when she looked into the mirror and in the reflection of the mirror staring angrily back at her were her scars, paler than her skin stretched across her back. The crisscrossed scars that had been there for ten long years.  
  
Lily and Alice had seen the scars. And despite them constantly asking what had happened to her, she had always refused to answer them. It wouldn't have done anything for her. The past was just that. The past.  
  
But no matter how much she told herself that, how much she willed herself to try and not think of him, the man that had given her those scars slowly entered her mind.  
  
 _"Pain is a weakness leaving the body! Emotions make you weak! So they shall leave this weakling body!"  
  
"You are merely my brother's brat. You should have died with them!"  
  
"You little whore. Attracting boys like that at Primary school! I hope I'm dead before you can bring boys over every day."_  
  
She pressed her forehead to the mirror, closing her eyes as the insults and accusations flew in her mind, all with the same harsh tone, the simple hatred in its voice. She opened her eyes and stared at the reflection, wishing to see the child that had been there for five years.  
  
Before all the pain had happened.  
  
Before the loss of her childhood had happened.  
  
But aloof, cold brown eyes merely stared back at her taunting her. And with a saddened sigh, she showered and returned to her room smiling when she saw Lily and Alice had already passed out in their bunks. She laid down in her bed and stared at the curtains before closing her eyes and falling into a dreamless sleep.


	5. Homeward Bound

_Moria blinked slowly realizing that she was now floating in bleak darkness. It was silent, no sound entering this bleak background. She turned around.  
  
And her eyes widened at the two people that stood in front of her._   
  
**_"Mum? Dad?"_ ** _She whispered out. The woman smiled at Moria revealing pearl white teeth that seemed to shine brighter and show off her ice blue eyes, her light wavy blonde hair falling well past her shoulders. The man grinned at her holding the woman to him with an arm wrapped around her shoulder. He looked nearly identical to Moria; the only thing contrasting them was skin color. The two images smiled at her and the feminine form raised her hands as though to welcome a hug. Moria started towards her, a blatant smile stretched on her face, her eyes filled with emotion. But the moment she touched the fingertips of the woman, the image vanished. Moria's eyes filled with horror at the scene in front of her.  
  
Twisted metal lay in clumps on the ground, smoke rising off the burning metal. A disgusting orange hew colored the black scenery. Her eyes widening in pain she looked side to side. Several feet away from her, his back pressed against a tree was a man, his face away from her, his body in an awkward angle. Unmoving._   
  
**_"Ah…Ah…"_ ** _a chocked scream clogged Moria's throat as she tried to think of anything coherent. She looked down and there laid the woman. She too was unmoving and blood sickly pooled around her body that was pinned by a piece of tangled metal. The puddle slowly formed around Moria and Moria looked into the puddle to see large tear filled eyes, the face of a young girl that was covered in dirt, grease, dust and blood.  
  
It was her._   
  
**_"MUMMY! DADDY!"_ ** _she cried in despair, sobbing now.  
  
Suddenly the image began to disappear and soon after, the sound of footsteps echoed in the blackness. Her heart sped almost feeling like it would rip out of her now childlike chest as curses and insults began to be heard. The sound of a belt being removed and a knife being sharpened echoed loudly, the pain on her back coming almost immediately after._   
  
**_"No! Not again! I'll be a good girl! DON'T! PLEASE!"_ ** _her voice finally called out. No reply answered and soon after a loud, petrified wail filled the black void, only to be answered by silence._

* * *

  
Moria's eyes snapped open, her body jolting slightly. She breathed in deeply and quickly glanced at her bunk-mates. They were all still asleep. She hadn't screamed out loud. She sighed heavily in relief and rested her forearm on her forehead. Dammit nightmares were coming more often now. Why now? She thought she had grown out of those nightmares. She stared at the curtains, her heart throbbing in pain, wishing she could go to her mother.  
  
But she couldn't.  
  
She turned in her bed, pressing her face into her pillow and inhaling the scent of the soap used to clean the sheets. And slowly the emotion died out in her eyes, the fear being slowly locked away. She closed her eyes and once again fell into the safety of the shadows, where no memory could reach her. No emotion could touch her. Nothing could hurt her there. No one could hurt her there.

* * *

  
"Blimey, Professor Tunes is nuts. Why is he so insistent on this stupid project?!" Sirius groaned out as Moria followed him. She shrugged innocently.  
  
"Dunno. Can't wait to see the groups and where the groups are going though." She countered.  
  
"But it is summer break! It's time for us to relax!" he groaned out.  
  
"Geez, would you calm down. The project is a report on muggle habits and your experience about it. It's easy as hell. Besides it would give you an excuse to avoid your family. Weren't they planning on going somewhere?" she asked as they crossed the foyer.  
  
"Don't remind me."  
  
"So now you have an excuse. Gotta know though. Where are the rest of the Marauders?" she asked, grinning  
  
"Moony is doing the last few prefect duties before the summer, no clue where Wormtail is, and Prongs-"  
  
"Is stalking Lily I presume?" She finished and he nodded with a grin. They finally reached the door for Muggle Studies where a large crowd had gathered. She could hear cheers, groans, and several curses as another group moved away. She peered onto the parchment that had been nailed to the door assigning groups and places. She searched for her, Lily, and Alice's name. She saw to some joy that they were in the same group. But then she saw the name and stiffened.  
  
Inverie,Knoydart.  
  
"Hey Moria." She heard someone call out. She looked up and saw Sirius staring at her.  
  
"Well it appears Longbottom, Moony, Prongs and I are in the same group as you three. Ever heard of Inverie?" he asked his eyebrow rose in question.  
  
"Well considering it's my town and my family live there. Yes."  
  
"Wait. You're Scottish?"  
  
"My parents lived in London for awhile." She said shortly. He looked at her. "The rest of my family lives there." She continued.  
  
"What about your parents?"  
  
"What about them?" she finally asked looking away. Before he could get another word out, she raced away, gripping her books tightly. He stared at her fading form, wondering what had been said that had gotten her so short about him.  
  
What had her parents done to her that she didn't even want to talk about them?

* * *

  
"Ugh. This is going to be the worse vacation ever." Lily groaned out as they sat in compartment on the train. Alice laughed weakly.  
  
"Maybe it won't be really bad." Alice tried to reason and Lily shot her a 'yeah right' look. "Look, just don't hex James in the first hour okay? This will be a long summer if you do, right Moria? Moria?" Alice asked. They both glanced at Moria who, ever since it had been revealed that they were going to be reporting on her village, had been quiet. Now she was just staring out the window, though it seemed that her mind was elsewhere than on the scenery that was passing by. Secretly Alice and Lily were quite happy for the events being played out. Finally they would find out about Moria.  
  
They just wished that they knew whether it was bad or good.

* * *

  
"You like her don't you?"  
  
Sirius jumped slightly and turned, and saw that James now stood behind him, a playful smirk on his face.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Please Padfoot. Don't insult my intelligence. I've seen the way you look at Prescott whenever we're in the common room, the great hall, Quidditch, class-" James listed different places he had caught Sirius staring at the oblivious girl. Sirius in response blushed madly.  
  
"You're mad Prongs."  
  
"If I wasn't right, you wouldn't be blushing." James easily countered. "Besides the fact I think you've liked her since we were younger, just been oblivious." Sirius glared at him before looking away on the train and for the first time much to his relief saw the train station appearing. Soon after, the train was once again alive as students hurried around, saying last minute goodbyes and getting their carry-ons ready for departing off the train. Once they finally reached the station it was a full flurry of movements as people rushed around grabbing their bags and trunks, greeting their parents happily.  
  
After finally retrieving their own bags and finding Moria the group began to follow her.  
  
"I think my Uncle Monroe is coming to pick us up." Moria finally said. "But knowing him he's probably having trouble finding a spot."  
  
"A spot? A spot for what? Parking? Seems like there's plenty of that." Lily said looking around at the now half-filled parking lot. Moria offered a sheepish grin, the first smile she had done the entire day, looking at the group.  
  
"You guys are going to hate me."  
  
"Why would we hate you?"

* * *

  
"You could have told us we had to ride on a boat to get to the bloody place!" Alice groaned out trying to tie her hair in an unsuccessful ponytail. Moria looked at her innocently.  
  
"I thought you guys knew this." Moria said. It wasn't anything new. Uncle Monroe would pick her up, they would go on a double decker bus for about 30 minutes, get to pier and then sail off to Inverie. However a friend of Monroe had shown up saying that Monroe was busy fishing. So he had done the same things with her and dragged the entire group.  
  
"Sorry." She said simply and then smirked as loud retching was heard near the side of the boat. Remus peeked in with an annoyed look.  
  
"How are those two?" Alice asked as Frank sat down next to her handing her a drink.  
  
"Still retching over the side of the boat."  
  
"Honestly, Potter and Black can handle flying on a broomstick perfectly fine, but put them on a boat and on water and they can't hold their stomachs." Lily complained. Moria laughed before seeing worry in Remus's face. Sighing she got up and grabbed his arm, yanking him away.  
  
"Stop worrying about it."  
  
"You know about my-"  
  
"Furry problem?" Moria asked, raising an eyebrow. "Remus, give me a break. The population of Inverie is about 100." She explained, lifting her arms up. "And it is surrounded by forests. You'll be fine." She replied. He looked at her in surprise.  
  
"How…"  
  
"It's not like I just moved there." She retorted. "I've lived there since I was 8…you get to know everyone there." She replied looking at him with a small smirk. "You aren't getting out of this okay?" she finally said and he couldn't help but smile, sighing as though in defeat.  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Bye Clyde!" Moria called out waving as the man that dropped them off turned the key and with a roar, his boat took off into the waters, and within a few minutes the boat had disappeared back into the river. She then turned and pointed to the small town that lay just beyond the beach. She gave a slight smile.  
  
"Welcome to Inverie,Knoydart."


	6. Scars Hold No Secrets

"Wwwooowww…this is a really tiny town." Alice said after a few minutes of silence. Moria shrugged.  
  
"There are only 100 people give or take, and since its fishing season there are a lot less of the men here." Moria explained off-handedly. She then grabbed her trunk and proceeded to walk down the path. The others looked at her a bit, almost confused at how cold she was to her home. She looked over the shoulder.  
  
"You guys coming?" she called out. Hurriedly the others ran to follow her, dragging their own luggage with them. It only took them several minutes to reach what they presumed to be Moria's home.  
  
In comparison to the other houses of the town, this one looked ancient. Ivy vines grew on one side of the house, covering it with leafy green ferns. Buds had seemingly followed suit onto the ivy, blossoming to reveal beautiful flowers. An ancient looking porch stood valiantly in the front, the white paint peeling off of the banisters from its long battle against the elements. Several rocking chairs and coffee tables had been strategically placed on the porch, protected by the mesh that covered the spaces between the poles. However from the main part of the home, the ancient look disappeared.  
  
It looked as though several parts of the house had been added on. In comparison to the older smaller part of the house, the extensions of the house had a cleaner coat of paint on them, and while there were plants and even ivy growing on them, it was not to same degree as the front of the house. It stretched behind the original house several feet before rising to a second story. Like the original, it was made out gray stone though due to its recent creation the stone had yet to wear down and gave it a newer look. Behind it, attached to the opposite wall, was what looked like a greenhouse, adorned with more ivy wrapping up the walls, though like the newer addition was not as much, though flowers had joined the ivy. The yard was filled to the brim with gardens and plants, and two chimneys stuck on the roof.  
  
"Bloody hell."  
  
"Moria…this is your house?"  
  
"Geez, how many siblings do you **have**?" Sirius finally asked. Moria glanced at him with a short smile.  
  
"I don't have any." She replied softly. Sirius looked at her, but before he could as another voice entered the scene.  
  
"Oh! Moria you didn't tell us we were going to have visitors!" a slightly rough, yet soft voice called out from somewhere in the jungle of gardens. Seconds later a form exited, holding in their hands several flowers, potatoes and cabbages.  
  
The person who stood in front of them was barely taller than Moria. Light brown-blonde hair was tied behind their head in a low ponytail. A large-bibbed hat had been situated on their head while loose clothes they were wearing were covered in dirt smudges and grass stains. Their blue eyes looked at them in some sort of confusion.  
  
"Wow…is that Moria's aunt?" Alice whispered to Lily. Lily shrugged.  
  
"I guess…I mean it could be one of her uncles' wives too." Lily added. Moria groaned and then glared at the person.  
  
"Uncle Mitch, what did I tell you about dressing like that? You look like a girl!" she spat out and Lily and Alice looked at her in shock.  
  
That was a **guy**?  
  
"Oooohhh! You're no fair Mori! I don't like to wear my good clothes when I'm gardening!"  
  
"Could you at least choose tighter clothes then?! People mistake you for a girl all the time! I don't think Mike likes it when guys whistle at you!" Moria argued out. Mitchell sniffed in annoyance.  
  
"Well anyways, Moria Althea Prescott…" He stated with a teasing sniff, before glancing at the group "…and apparently friends, come in. The others are waiting."  
  
"Others?" Remus finally managed to ask, not sure whether to laugh at the argument or be slightly disturbed that most likely everyone thought Mitchell was a girl at first. Mitchell looked at them confused.  
  
"Didn't Moria tell you? Plus me Moria has 3 uncles and 1 aunt." Mitchell explained and Moria's face grew more and more mortified.  
  
"What?!" Lily squeaked out.  
  
"My grandparents were busy okay?!" Moria spat out then rushed past her uncle, her face a bright red, the others followed.  
  
"How the bloody hell are we all going to fit in this place?" Alice asked Moria as she continued to drag her trunk.  
  
"Have some faith in me  
  
"Plus the eight of us that's twelve." Lily explained.  
  
"I know that." Moria retorted, rolling her eyes. "Geez. I already solved that problem. You guys can stay in my room. Granted I'll have to put up a curtain to separate the guys and the girls." She said.  
  
"Your room is probably tiny, M! How the bloody hell do you expect-!" Sirius began to ask as Moria opened a door.  
  
On the other side of the door was what had looked like a green house on the outside. Instead it was a bedroom, curtains covering the glass panels mostly, but still emitting enough light for the room. Chinese lanterns were strung on the top of the roof. A lofted bed was situated on the far wall, and the floors had been carpeted. Moria looked at the stunned faces with a bored expression.  
  
"You were saying?"  
  
"Uh…never mind."  
  
"Sweet Merlin, do my daft ears deceive me? Do I hear little Moria?" a deeper voice called out. Moria rolled her eyes.  
  
"Hi Uncle Martin." She called out as a man walked up to them. He looked at the group with some confusion but smiled nonetheless. He looked more like Moria even in built but seemed to show more emotion than her.  
  
"Ah, I see these are the guests Mitch was talking about. Pleased to meet you all." He said smiling before rubbing Moria's hair, ruffling it. She blushed embarrassed.  
  
"So…is everyone in the living room?" she finally asked. Martin grinned and nodded.  
  
"Why don't you all bring your stuff in there? We'll get the spare beds set up later." He said. Moria sighed and looked at her room.  
  
Home sweet home.  
  
"Bloody hell. No wonder Moria doesn't talk about her family. I'd get a headache just trying to describe them." James groaned out. Despite herself, Lily laughed in agreement.  
  
"So that makes Moria's dad the youngest right? Geez, when did her grandparents start having kids? When they were teenagers?"  
  
"They did." Moria called out. "They got married when Grandma Mairi was sixteen and Grandpa Mungo was eighteen. My grandma's family was furious. Uncle Martin was born a year later." She explained.  
  
"Question…why does our family have all names that start with M?" Remus asked turning over on the cot that he had been assigned.  
  
"Dunno. Just been like that forever. They say I'm the only one that can continue tradition." Moria said.  
  
"Why just you? You have 4 uncles and 1 aunt."  
  
"Uncle Martin's family died before I was born in a bus accident, Aunt Madge can't have kids even if she wanted to, Uncle Mitchell is interested in men, and Uncle Monroe has a long-distance relationship but he worries more about the family then actually settling down." Moria explained.  
  
"Geez. Sucks to be you." Sirius called out. Moria snorted in agreement.

* * *

  
"I don't think she's told them about it…about any of it." Mitchell whispered out glancing at the shut door of Moria's room later that night. It was silent, the teens already asleep from the long journey.  
  
"Would you?" Martin asked looking up from the novel he was reading.  
  
"I understand her hesitance. But she can't continue to move one when she's holding everything back. She's been doing that for too long." Madge said placing a cup in a cabinet.  
  
"Well…we'll just have to help won't we?"  
  
"Yeah."

* * *

  
"Sorry…the weather here can change pretty quickly." Moria apologized as the rain poured down on them. Thankfully they had all brought a raincoat or umbrella with them so they were staying relatively dry.  
  
"At least it's not as bad as when DeVane caught us in the woods. I thought he was going to shoot us!" Alice cried out, remembering the old, gruff man who ran out at them when they were hiking screaming about devils. Moria had calmed him down and sent him away like a small child, though it didn't mean that the boys hadn't nearly tried to beat the guy up for scaring the bloody hell out them.  
  
"DeVane has had some issues since he was younger. He claims that devils stole his wife away when in actuality she just ran off with another guy. Nothing can really stop th-" Moria began to say but was cut off by a loud shriek. They all looked towards the pier and saw all the women now screaming and pointing at the grey, turbulent water. They all looked and now saw the situation.  
  
A child had been playing too close to the end of the pier and had gotten swept off it. The little girl was now struggling to stay afloat as a current pulled her farther from the shore.  
  
"Oh no." Sirius murmured out as the girls squeaked in panic. While yes they were wizards and witches in training, they were unfortunately still not of age yet and even if they were, there were too many muggles around for them to do anything.  
  
They were stuck.  
  
Moria quickly searched around and found what she was looking for. A long cord of rope, long enough to reach well over where the girl currently was clinging to a rock. But she needed to go quickly, she wasn't sure if the girl would last and be able to hold onto the rock for much longer. Even during the summer the waters could be cold.  
  
"Damn it, think we could swim there?!"  
  
"Not fast enough. I could go into my ani-!" Sirius began to say but stopped when a blur of brown hair raced past him and towards the edge of the dock. It took him a second to realize who it was, and it was a second too late to stop her.  
  
"MORIA!?" Lily finally shrieked out as Moria dived off the pier. Her body entered a large wave as it pounded back to the watery surface. At first there was nothing. Then with an explosion of water Moria's head burst from the surf and then began to swim with powerful strokes toward the girl. She had to ignore the feeling of needles and glass shards tearing at her flesh. A little girl's life depended on it. Finally she made it to the rock the now sobbing girl was clinging to.  
  
"Hi Sweetie. Let's get you back to your m…mother." She managed to say and realized she was getting colder. Didn't really help that she had stripped off her garments till she was in her bra and her shorts that she had put under her pants, but she wouldn't have made it that far if she hadn't. The little girl sobbed loudly and launched her small form to Moria wrapping her tiny shaking arms around her. Moria then began the long struggle back to the pier, ever so often having to cling to the girl as waves threatened to shove them down and tried to drag them away.  
  
But the rope she had wrapped around her waist held firm much to her relief. Score one for rope. She began to feel her fingers growing numb and her body getting colder. Her body seemed to be becoming slower and heavier and the little girl's body was becoming limp and her sobs quieter. It took her a few minutes to understand what was happening to both of them.  
  
They were succumbing to hypothermia.  
  
"B-bloody…h-hell! She stuttered out. Numbly she reached up towards the wood of the pier but her hand began to slip back in. That is until a larger hand enveloped hers and hoisted her out of the water. Gray eyes stared at her angrily as her bare, numb feet touched the soaked pier.  
  
"Have you bloody lost it!?" Sirius hissed out angrily as the others, the mother of the child, and several villagers raced over, the villagers wrapping the child and Moria in several blankets.  
  
"M…Maybe…C…Can I have s…some c…clothes p...please? Moria stuttered out. It was then he realized that she was only standing there in a bra and sports shorts. Blushing he stepped away. She turned to receive yet another blanket.  
  
Sirius, who had been trying not to stare, was now staring as were Remus, James, and Frank. Alice and Lily glanced at each other knowing what they were now staring at with shocked expressions.  
  
Scars.  
  
The crisscrossed, almost in the shape of mesh fence lines crossed her back paler than her skin tone, painfully more seen with her goose-bumped flesh.  
  
"What the hell…" Sirius murmured out but before anyone could ask, Moria was rushed away, apparently to be taken to the local doctor and be checked for any signs of hypothermia. Martin walked up, a strange look on his face. He glanced at the boys and saw confusion and complete horror in their faces. In the girls there was only confusion. He sighed and then motioned towards the house.  
  
"I think it's time we talked."


	7. A Trip Down Memory Lane

The group of teens should have felt odd, following a grown man to a house. But they didn't. Right now for the boys, questions were filling their heads faster than they could process them. For the girls however, they simply had simple questions that had been sitting in the darkest corners of their minds, yearning to be free but because Moria always dropped the subject, had never been answered.  
  
Slowly and silently they entered the house. Mitchell looked up from the dishes he had been cleaning and looked at them with confusion. At the sight of his older brother however the confusion changed to crystal clarity.  
  
They knew.  
  
"How?" he merely asked. Martin looked at Mitchell with a type of morbid amusement.  
  
"How do you think? The hero blood in her activated and she nearly drowned and died of exposure." Martin replied almost making it sound like a joke. Mitchell sighed, cursing softly.  
  
"We really need to enlighten her that one of these days she's going to die if she keeps doing this." Mitchell grumbled out. Martin laughed pulling out a cup to get some water  
  
"So…those scars?" Alice finally managed to ask, snapping the pair out of their conversations. Mitchell and Martin glanced at each other as though silently goading the other to start. Finally Mitchell sighed and glanced at the group of teens, wiping his hands dry with a tea towel.  
  
"Before you even suspect…no…none of the ones that had been introduced to you all were the ones that harmed her like that. Neither were her parents. They loved her more than life itself." Mitchell said.  
  
"Yeah….more than anything." Martin echoed softly, almost as though he was in pain.  
  
"Then who did?" Lily finally asked. Mitchell and Martin looked at each other again.  
  
"Before we explain how she got her scars, we need to tell you her past…at least most of her past." Mitchell explained and stood up before going to a closet and reaching in it to retrieve a small box. He returned to the table, placing it down and then opening the box. They peered over it and saw it was filled with old photos of the Prescott family. Searching for several minutes he finally pulled out an older photo.  
  
On the photo was a couple standing next to each other. A wedding photo. The woman was wearing a simple white gown; no jewels covered the dress, her blonde hair halfway up and her blue eyes glittering in happiness. A man stood next to her, his long brown hair tied in a short ponytail, wearing a dark tuxedo. His arms were wrapped around her waist and his brown eyes were staring at the photographer with unimaginable happiness.  
  
"This is Mable and Maarten, Moria's parents. Maarten was my younger brother." Martin said. "The youngest out of all our siblings and he was a wild child." Mitchell chuckled at that description.  
  
"Wild? Completely uncontrollable is more like it." Mitchell corrected. "He was more of a trickster, and would do anything for a laugh. But staying here was never in his plans. Wanted to leave our home and make a life in London…our parents weren't too happy about that. But they let him do what he wanted." Martin continued.  
  
"He wanted to be a musician. It was difficult, really difficult. He had to do other jobs to get an income. But he loved it. Singing I mean. And there he met her." Mitchell said tapping the woman in photograph. "He met Mable Ellesmere. She sang songs in different languages. And was good at it too." Mitchell said smiling at the memory of listening to Mable sing.  
  
"Maarten was entranced by her beauty and her voice. She could make a crowd swoon and follow her music. The same went for Mable. Maarten…had this connection with the crowd. His music really got to the people who would come to the concerts. And like that Mable and Maarten clicked. It didn't take them long for him to drag her back here and introduce her to us." Martin said and couldn't help but chuckle when Maarten had come up for Christmas with a blonde haired woman walking behind him.  
  
"They dated for several years before finally tying the knot. About 8 months later…Moria was born after 12 hours of labor, several broken fingers, a concussion, and a crack in the hospital wall from a tray." Mitchell said. He smiled thoughtfully. "It took just one second and she already had Maarten wrapped around her finger. Guess that goes with all dads and their children. But even with their daughter, they didn't stop their singing career. They just brought her along." He finished and fished out another picture and then showed it to the group. The all blinked in shock.  
  
Moria was only a toddler in this picture but she had a smile on her face that was bigger than they had ever seen on her. Her chubby arms were wrapped around Maarten and Mable's necks as Maarten held his daughter up.  
  
"She was three in this picture…see the difference right?" Mitchell asked. The group just nodded.  
  
"Back then…the Moria you all know didn't exist. That Moria didn't begin its' existence until she was five…till that day…that horrid day."  
  
"We're not sure what happened. Neither is Moria. The last thing she remembers is Maarten turning around to protect her from the car wreck. She blacked out after that. When she came to…she was at the bottom of the cliff. Among car debris. Now that I think about it…her magic probably manifested right then to protect her. But it couldn't protect her from everything." Martin said looking at the picture…probably the last picture of Moria ever happy.  
"Maarten died instantly, snapped his neck after he was thrown from the vehicle and into a tree. He didn't feel any pain. But Mable…Mable wasn't as fortunate. She stayed in her seat, but the hull of the vehicle landed on her stomach down to her feet. She was pinned and she was mortally wounded." Martin said not looking at the group but he could hear startled gasps coming from Lily and Alice. "Those scars on Moria's palms are testament to that."  
  
"When we got word of the accident…we all rushed to the hospital to find out about survivors. Moria was the only one." Mitchell said glancing at Martin. The accident had been another knife plunged into his heart as a year earlier; Martin's own family had been killed in a similar accident. Mitchell glanced back at the group. He sighed as though he was tired.  
  
"Unfortunately, that isn't where she got her scars from. Except for her hands…she was relatively untouched." Martin said, rubbing a hand across his face.   
  
"I…It isn't?" Lily finally managed to voice.  
  
"After the funeral…we debated on who would take care of Moria. She was a young girl…reeling from the death of her parents. And most of us just weren't ready to deal with that yet. So we decided on my brother…my youngest brother and Maarten's twin…Malcolm." Martin said, the words feeling like venom to him. If they had stepped up Moria wouldn't have become like this. They would have had the same Moria that had been there for five years.  
  
"Malcolm was…different. He was always a bit of a loner, but out of all us…he seemed to have been handling the deaths the best, so we thought that he would have been the perfect choice. However what we didn't know was that Malcolm wasn't right in the head. We didn't know for our entire lives or for the three years that Moria lived with him."  
  
"Know what?"  
  
"Malcolm...there is something wrong with him. Malcolm…decided that no emotions were better than having any. Those scars were…punishments…for her showing emotions. Anger, sadness, fear, happiness, any emotion that he considered useless…he taught her that if she showed those emotions he would hurt her. Badly." Martin said softly. He looked up and glanced at the group.  
  
All of their faces were pale. Alice and Lily looked like they couldn't decide whether to scream or puke. The boys seemed to be trying to think of anything. Mitchell winced.  
  
"It-!"  
  
"You know if you're going to tell a story of my life, why don't you let ME tell them?" A voice interjected. They all turned to see Moria standing there, resting the side of her body on the door jam, her arms crossed staring at her uncles angrily.  
  
"M-Moria…is…is that true?!" Lily finally managed to stammer out. Mori closed her eyes, smirked and let out a bitter laugh.  
  
"I could say no, that it isn't, but that would be lying wouldn't it?" Moria responded, her face cool, almost in a bitter tone. "Yes. I lived with a man that made me sleep in a cupboard, and who would beat me to make sure my emotions wouldn't come out. Some days he would use a kitchen knife, others if he was drunk or angry enough he would beat me with his belt till I bled." Moria said shrugging at the shocked faces. "I got used to it."  
  
"That doesn't make it right!" Sirius finally spat out. Moria stared at him, her eyes sharp with anger and pain.  
  
"Because of that man, I wasted three years living in a world controlled by fear and oppression. I KNOW that it wasn't right." She snapped, moving away from the doorjamb. "Don't make assumptions of what I do or don't know!!" She hissed out harshly, before turning around, marching out the door and slamming it shut.

* * *

  
She was angry. Now beyond angry.  
  
Humiliated.  
  
She sighed, shaking her head as tears formed in her eyes. No she would not cry. She wouldn't. But no matter what she did, she couldn't shake the sight of her friends…most likely her former friends…faces as they sat listening to her past. The horrified looks.  
  
She continued hiking through the woods before finding a place that she always would go to have moments of solitude. Grunting she climbed up a tree, sliding onto the branch and staring out into the forest, her emotions swirling around. Why…why couldn't she have told them? Why? Because she was weak, and she was-  
  
"-et go, Jack!" a voice interrupted her thoughts. Blinking she looked down and saw a young girl arguing with another man. Several other men had surrounded her.  
  
That was never a good thing.  
  
"Jack please! Let's go back to the group!" the girl pleaded.  
  
"No way Dolly! I've had it with your hard-to-get attitude. Tell me right now, or my boys will teach you a lesson!"  
  
"You're scaring me Jack!" the girl pleaded and was about to scream as the men got closer to her.  
  
"Alright that's enough." Moria finally growled out, jumping down and landing on one of the men. "If you haven't heard, tourists aren't allowed here. Go back." She ordered. The men scoffed at her and one walked up to her intending to shove her away. Bad move on his part. Before he knew had been slammed in the chin by a closed fist and he was out.  
  
"I will tell you again. **Go. Back.** I'm not in the mood to deal with bastards like you." She hissed out. The others looked at her and released the sobbing girl who did as Moria ordered. She ran back the way she came from. The boys however didn't move.  
  
"What are you gluttons for punishment? I said-!" she began to growl out before an arm wrapped around her neck and hoisted her off of her feet. She cursed herself in not making sure that the other wasn't actually out.  
  
"Well now…we're going to have a nice…chat…with you. You should have minded your own business." The boy most likely known as Jake said and with a snap, him and his two cronies, one holding the now struggling Moria, they walked deeper into the forest.

* * *

"Did you find her?!" Lily called out as Alice rushed back to her. Alice shook her head, her eyes full of worry.  
  
"I don't know where to look. I mean it's not like there will be a sign or anything to tell us-!" Alice began to say but was interrupted when a young woman all but flew past them, sobbing. The two girls looked at each other before bolting into the thicket. Knowing full well wherever that girl had been, Moria surely was.

* * *

  
"LITTLE BITCH!" a voice called out and before Moria could react a fist slammed into her cheek. She yelped slightly and would have fallen if they hadn't tied her hands above her head and tied them to a tree limb. She swung slightly, her head throbbing and she heard the drunken laughs of the men.  
  
"She ain't so tough now is she?" one of them joked as she spat blood. She glared at them but kept her mouth shut.  
  
"Aw…she looks pissed." Jack said walking up to her and lifting her chin up to where she was looking at him.  
  
"Why don't you go rot in hell?" She growled out. Angry, he slammed his fist into her stomach and a gasp left her mouth. She coughed violently, but her glare didn't diminish. Now angry the three men advanced to her. The punches came violently and rained down her form, however the reaction they had been expecting never came. Her eyes were still cool, the look of defiance never leaving her.  
  
"Damn…she's a cold hearted bitch isn't she?" one of them joked as they looked at her, lifting her head up with her chin. Her face was now black and blue more than tan. Blood dripping down her face and nose. Her clothes had tears in it, revealing small bruises on her body, her hair sticking out because of the blood. She was breathing heavily, one eye closed. She merely smirked.  
  
"Expecting some type of reaction? Sucks to be you…" she whispered out. There was a loud curse and she felt Jake slam his leg into her stomach. She coughed violently again and she felt her vision spinning.  
  
 _"Wonder if I'm dying..."_ She thought, her vision swaying slightly as one grabbed a handful of her hair and forced her head up. _"Death would probably be a blessing now…"_ she thought meekly as Jack threw another punch into her face. Her vision began to darken.  
  
Suddenly she heard the sounds of footsteps behind the rushing and pounding in her head. She then heard collective gasps.  
  
She knew those voices.  
  
Her head shot up in shock and her eyes finally showed emotion as her vision cleared. Lily and Alice stood at the corner of the opening, their faces pale and their eyes wide.  
  
"Lily?...Alice?" she whispered out. She then heard a chuckle and her heartbeat skyrocketed as she saw the men advance towards the two girls.  
  
"Leave them alone!" she snarled out, lurching slightly. Jack swung around and clipped her in the chin.  
  
"Quiet. Get those two girls." He called out. She growled loudly a warning he paid no attention to listen. Within minutes both Lily and Alice were subdued. The other boys dragged the two girls to a tree and with rather scary ease tied to them to a tree.  
  
"What should we do with them boss? Beat them up as well?" one of them asked after they had finished binding them.  
  
"We can't let them go. Not after they saw this one like this. We go along with the rest of the plan. Just with two more. Make it look like an animal found them and devoured them." Jack said with chilling ease. A growl escaped Moria's mouth warning him to back off. He however took no heed and began to walk up towards the bound Lily and Alice. Alice looked fearful, while Lily, though still scared, looked at the attackers in defiance.  
  
Moria began to breathe heavily, trying to free herself.  
  
 ** _"Forget pain."_**  
  
Moria blinked as Malcolm's voice rang in her head.  
  
 ** _"Pain is a weakness leaving the body. Forget about it. Forget about the emotions that cloud you. And you shall succeed."_**  
  
 _"Looks like Uncle Malcolm taught me something useful."_ Moria thought somewhat bitterly. She then began to pull down on the rope, forcing her elbows towards her chest, her sides, her waist. Burning pain returned with vengeance, and she could feel hot warm blood dripping down her wrists.  
  
She ignored it once again. And slowly it felt nothing more than a mosquito bite, the pain her body was in was now completely vanished under the sight of her friends in danger. She thought of all the times that Malcolm had hit her, abused her, and concentrated inward. This pain was NOTHING compared to that pain. She gritted her teeth and then heard probably the most melodious sound. The sound of snapping wood.  
  
"Back off." Lily hissed out as Jack walked up to her.  
  
"Or you'll what?" he hissed out. He snapped his fingers and the other two began to walk up to them. However one suddenly fell forward.  
  
"Brian?! The bloody hell?!"  
  
"That was for touching my friends." A hollow voice called out. The boys spun around and were met with a rather scary sight.  
  
Moria had managed to break the tree branch that had been holding her bindings. Her eyes were cold, with a slightly gold tint to them, her mouth in a monotone single line, nearly a frown, the rope still tied around her wrists, now red with the blood that had seeped out. With the added bruises, Moria looked like someone who had just come from hell.  
  
"Heh. You…you honestly think you can scare us?" Jack stammered out as Brian stood up and charged at Moria. Moria dodged and before Brian could comprehend the thought of turning around, Moria swung her leg down, slamming her shin into the back of his neck. A short cry fell from his mouth and he fell in a rather ungraceful heap on the ground, with a loud thud. She glanced at him and then back at the now two men.  
  
"You little bitch!" The other roared out and dashed towards her. He in comparison to Brian and Jack was considerably larger and definitely had the build of a former wrestler, and he must have prided himself again and again over his muscles, glossed them by going to the gym and flaunted them in front of countless women. It was too bad that Moria was going to take a direct hit to his pride and ego.  
  
"It seems that what they said about brutes like you is true." She said as she caught his fist in her hand. In any other time she would have laughed at how the different the size of their hands were.  
  
But she was in no mood for laughter.  
  
"The bigger they are…the harder they fall." She said and with a gliding motion moved away. The sheer girth of the man had now made gravity his enemy. As now, with his balance off, he started to fall forward as he tried to regain his balance. He altogether gave up when Moria's knee slammed into his face. She felt the self-rewarding snap of his nose being broken and felt warm blood splatter onto her jeans, and heard his pained grunt being muffled by her leg. He started to fall back but she wasn't done with him. She grabbed his shirt and then hoisted herself up, and flung him like a ragdoll. He too fell into an ungraceful heap onto the forest floor. She stared at them for a minute before returning her gaze to now the lone man.  
  
Jack.  
  
"Now then…what was you said to me? That you would teach me a lesson?" Moria asked cracking her knuckles as she walked up to him. He was shaking now and she could see a stain now on his pants, and judging on the smell, she gathered he had peed himself.  
  
"Now…I'm going to give you a chance. Leave. Grab your cronies and leave…never come back to this place." She said quietly, but even though it was quiet, there was still harshness involved in it. Jack nodded and rushed past her helping Brian up before they both grabbed the other man and dragged him away. It was silent for several minutes before Moria coughed violently, holding her arm. Blood dripped sickly down her arms and leg as she stumbled, then shook her head before limping to the tree that Lily and Alice were still tied to. After several unsuccessful attempts she managed to untie the knots. But she didn't look their way, now believing that they too would run away in fright.  
  
However she blinked in shock as the two girls nearly plowed her over hugging her. Now unable to hold all of their weight up, Moria fell to the ground. She winced and hissed out in pain.  
  
"Sorry!"  
  
"Are you alright?!"  
  
"Bloody hell Moria! Where the hell did you learn to fight like that!?" the girls questions flew in the air and Moria struggled to keep up with them and get her brain functioning again.  
  
"It's okay. I'm fine, just bruised. When I lived with my uncle I learned to fight." She answered, her voice wavering. She didn't understand. She didn't understand at all. "Why aren't you scared of me?" she finally asked. Lily and Alice looked at her in shock.  
  
"Why would we be afraid of you?! You're our friend!" Alice finally exclaimed.  
  
"But my past…and what you just saw-!"  
  
"So what? We want to go and beat him up. Not you. You were innocent in this. And you're fighting skills are wicked!" Lily concluded. Moria blinked in shock. No. She wasn't hearing this. She had to be imagining this.  
  
"Moria..." Lily started and Moria finally looked at them. "Moria you're our friend. Since we met in our first year till whenever we all die as old ladies with our husbands, we will always be your friends. Your best friends." Lily said with an added huff from Alice.  
  
"We better be her best friends. I mean we've gone through a lot with her." Alice added jokingly. Moria bit her lip then looked at her lap, her shoulder shaking. The two girls looked at each other in confusion and then heard soft laughing; Moria shook her head and looked up, a bright smile on her face.  
  
"Bloody hell. You two are so odd." She called out softly and the other two laughed.  
  
"Come on…let's help you get back to your family." Lily cooed softly and gripped one of Moria's arms, Alice picking up the other one and with gentle ease helped her stand. She winced and stumbled slightly but was helped by her friends. She smiled. A little bit later Lily and Alice returned to the house, shocking Moria's family.  
  
"Moria?! What happened?!"  
  
"Some thugs. Don't worry, I took care of them." Moria said as she winced, taking the antiseptic to a cut on her arm as Mitchell bandaged her arm.  
  
"When I get my hands on them-!"  
  
"Uncle Monroe, it's okay. I took that liberty." Moria soothed her aunt and uncles as she sipped a cup of tea delicately, bandages wrapped around each of her hands, slightly speckled with drying blood. She had changed.

* * *

  
Later that night Sirius turned his gaze to girls section watching the curtain that separated the room, a low glow of a lamp illuminating the sheet, he knew that Lily and Alice were already asleep, Moria still awake. She seemed to like staying awake longer than her friends. Maybe it was a habit she had grown used to. He then watched her silhouette stand and then grab a discarded shirt. He continued to watch her until her silhouette began to change and he quickly turned around. He could feel his face burning and he swallowed and he knew that he couldn't deny it any more.  
  
He had probably been like that since they had first met and she had smiled at him but refused to move for him and James. He couldn't deny that he was particularly more protective over her well being, for the most part thinking it was just because she was his friend. But now he knew... he should have known when he felt like he wanted to attack Lucius and his gang after they harassed her.  
  
He had feelings for her. Feelings that were more than just friends, more than just a bond that was sibling like...  
  
But what could he do about those feelings? He didn't have a clue.


	8. Falling for you

It was later that week, and the group was continuing their project. Granted a good majority of this project was hiking, something that Moria had grown used to over the years. Her friends however hadn't. Which also meant that they weren't used to the wildlife.  
  
"Eek! A spider!"  
  
"Why is Alice reminding me of Bryn of all a sudden?" Moria remarked as she and Lily looked behind them to see Alice leaping around as though someone had hexed her foot. Lily laughed as Alice began to lose her balance only to be caught by Frank, which caused both to blush brightly.  
  
"Oh I don't know. Maybe it's the fear of spiders? Or maybe the overall loudness." Lily responded as the continued to hike up into the forest. Moria grinned, remembering their Hufflepuff friend. Always cheerful, friendly, loyal, and overall hardworking. Bryn certainly made it known she was in a room.  
  
"Think Peter is ripping his hair out because of Bryn?" Moria asked as she stepped over a fallen log.  
  
"Probably." Lily finally said feeling slightly sorry that Pettigrew was stuck with the loudest member of her friends.  
  
"So here we are. There are the ruins of a really old temple around here somewhere." Moria looked around at destroyed ruins.  
  
"Wow….there is a whole lot of nothing." James said looking around at some of the debris and Lily glared at him. Sirius continued walking, getting closer to where Moria was.  
  
"We have to be careful, because there could be booby-!" Moria began to say as James pushed in a stone and the familiar sounds of cranks and gears moving. Moria quickly looked around and then glared at James.  
  
"What did you d-!" she began to hiss out but the floor beneath Sirius and her disappeared, a loud yell of surprise coming from the whole party as the ground slid back into place, silencing the yells of Sirius and Moria.

* * *

  
"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!" Moria screamed, the wind rushing through her hair, listening to Sirius yell behind her as he fell as well, continuing to slide down the crevice. How far were they going to fall? Were they going to die, be pummeled by the rocks be-  
  
The thoughts stopped as she landed onto the-thankfully soft with sand-ground with a loud grunt. Sirius landed on top of her a few minutes later causing her to grunt again. After a few minutes he rolled off of her.  
  
"Bloody hell. Sorry." He grumbled out sitting up and nudging her. She responded with a kick to the shin.  
  
"Bloody arsehole." She grumbled, sitting up as she dusted her hair to get the sand out. "Is he always careless?" she hissed out and he chuckled finally standing up and helping her up.  
  
"This is James Potter."  
  
"Point taken." She grumbled as she dusted off the back of her pants, grimacing at the stains on her pants. "Uncle Mitchell is going to kill me." She murmured out as she followed Sirius who had started walking towards the opening that some caves had created after what she could only assume was several centuries.  
  
"Hopefully this is the way out."  
  
"And if it isn't?" she asked, inhaling sharply as the walls closed in on her.  
  
"Haven't figured that part out yet." He responded and she groaned loudly. They continued walking for several minutes in silence the only sound reverberating off the walls were the echoes of their footsteps. Her heart was in her throat and she crossed her arms, biting her lower lip. Sirius glanced behind his shoulder and looked at her in confusion.  
  
"You alright?"  
  
"Fine…just…just a bit claustrophobic." She replied, her voice wavering a bit. He looked concerned but continued walking. She frowned. She felt awkward around him. She had been so rude to him a few days ago. She'd felt embarrassed right then, and had lashed out. But he hadn't deserved it. She swallowed.  
  
"Sirius?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Sorry…about how I acted a few days ago." She said softly, looking at their feet. He stopped and turned around a bit of shock showing on his face. She looked embarrassed, a hint of a blush evident even in the shadowed gloom. She wasn't one known for apologies, especially when it came to him.  
  
"Look Moria…it's okay honest. It wasn't something you wanted us to know about." He replied. "Not that it makes it any better or that I don't want to go rip his head off." He thought to himself. She looked at him at first in shock then she smiled. They began moving again, the area growing darker and more foreboding. The path also grew smaller and her breathing seemed to have escalated. He looked back at her.  
  
"Are you sure you're-" He began to ask. Suddenly he pitched forward, nearly falling off the ledge that he was on. He heard a loud yell and then Moria grab his shirt and yank him back, his balance now lost he fell backward and heard a loud grunt. He turned and staring down at Moria who was staring at him in shock and he could see even in the dark a blush rising on her face. He was pretty sure he was blushing as well and quickly scooted away.  
  
"Sorry." He murmured out looking down at the floor. She gave a curt nod blushing as well. She opened her mouth to say something.  
  
"Guys?!"  
  
"Padfoot!"  
  
Moria! You guys there?!" they heard several voices call out. They looked up and saw a hole being made in a higher part of the cave.  
  
"Yeah we're here! Tell James I'm going to kill him once we get out!" Moria yelled out sarcasm laved in her voice. James chuckled slightly, and they could hear everyone else laughing in relief.  
  
"Yup she's alright." They heard Lily say and Sirius glanced at Moria one last time before the others scrambled down.

* * *

  
"Hey Moria?" Lily called out as they were lying down in Moria's room. Moria looked up from the book she was reading.  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Can you…" She trailed off. "Can you tell us what your uncles were telling us a few days ago?" she finally asked after a moment of hesitation. Moria blinked then sighed glancing at the others, noticing that they were all now staring at her.  
  
"…fine…" she said after a bit of hesitation. "Where did I interrupt?" she asked.  
  
"They had told us about why he beat and…scarred…you." Alice replied. Moria closed her eyes then looked at the ceiling, offering a mirthful smile.  
  
"The scarring was a method of controlling me. But he also would tell me lies. When I was a little girl…I believed him for the most part. He told me aunt and uncles didn't care about me. I know that isn't true now, but then it felt like the truth then. We rarely visited them and when we did it just felt awkward. Though now I'm sure that they didn't know how to act around me. And I was being, for a better word, trained to not show emotion so I didn't know how to act around them. But I knew that even if I was on my best behavior, I knew I would get beaten or punished the moment we got back. It wasn't a big surprise for me." She said with a monotone voice. "But I learned the more I just tried to blend in with my surroundings and be as quiet as possible, he wouldn't hurt me as much."  
  
"D…Did he ever…" Lily said, trailing off. Moria figured it out.  
  
"Rape me? No. That was just trivial for him. But he still hurt me. He was the main reason why no matter what Lucius does, he can't bother me. Nothing that Lucius does can really bother me. Besides if Lucius did get bad I could easily beat his high and mighty ass, even without magic. When you live on the street for a while, you have to fight, or you'll die."  
  
"Wait. You knew how to fight…and you didn't fight him? Why!?" Sirius finally managed to ask. Moria simply shrugged.  
  
"I couldn't. He was bigger than me and he held me under his thumb. I couldn't. So I didn't for three years…but then…my family found out."

* * *

**_"Malcolm. Moria. How has your summer been so far?"_ ** _Mitchell asked sweetly. Moria glanced at her uncle and just shrugged keeping her eyes on the ground. Mitchell frowned and glanced at her brother. Malcolm merely looked at him indifferently. Martin coughed uncomfortably._  
  
**_"Sweetie. Why don't you go make yourself comfortable okay?"_ ** _Martin said and Moria glanced up at Malcolm who gave her a curt nod. Moria walked away from her guardian and to the television. The brothers all looked at Malcolm as she left him._  
  
**_"So…how has she been?"_ ** _Marlon asked pushing up his glasses._  
  
**_"Been like she has every day."_ ** _Malcolm responded curtly, folding his arms over his chest. The brothers looked at each other. They then heard a cup fall. Soon after Moria walked out a huge stain on her shirt. Madge sighed before taking the little girl and leaving the room._  
  
**_"So...how's business been?"  
  
"The same. Why do you guys insist on inviting me to this reunion? It's depressing as he-!"_ **  
  
_Malcolm's comment was cut off by a loud scream of shock and then Madge rushing out, a look of pure anger on her face._  
  
**_"YOU BLOODY BASTARD! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!"_ ** _she screeched at Malcolm who had a look of indifference on his face while the other men looked at her confused._  
  
**_"Madge what-!"  
  
"LOOK AT HER BACK! GO LOOK AT HER BACK!"_ ** _she screeched out pointing at the room they had taken Moria in. Martin, Mitchell, and Monroe rushed in and their eyes widened at the sight. Moria just sat on the bed, her gaze on the ground. She made no sign of noticing them, nor did she seem to be in any distress. However the scars…the were scars facing them, shocking the three men._

* * *

  
"After that Malcolm was arrested and charged with child abuse. But he's unfortunately not in prison. He's currently in an asylum."  
  
"Why the hell did they just put him in an asylum for what he did to you?!" Lily hissed out. Moria shrugged and smiled bitterly.  
  
"He was diagnosed for several mental disorders, like paranoia, schizophrenia, and I think bipolar was one a few of them. I don't really remember the whole thing. So legally, he couldn't be charged because he wasn't in the right mind. So he has to remain in an asylum. At least that's the court order. He gets a visit with a parole hearing every now and then, but he hasn't managed to keep his temper down long enough." She said looking at the ceiling. She paused for a second.  
  
"Why did you never tell anyone?"  
  
"Because the fact is that whenever I hinted to people about what was happening, they didn't believe me. Like I said I was a fighter when I was a kid, so they automatically thought that is where I got those scars from. And when they thought that, I normally lost the people who I was friends with."  
  
"Oh bloody hell Moria. That's not happening anytime soon." Alice huffed out and she grinned.  
  
"Yes. You've all pretty much assured me of that. Thanks." She replied and grinned and they all responded by a grin. She then looked back at James.  
  
"Alright. James. Now next time we go exploring, you don't touch anything." Moria warned glaring playfully at James, changing the subject. The others laughed and continued on the conversations. Later that night Moria was staring at ceiling again listening to her friends light snoring. She then glanced at Sirius, who was now partially off the bed, snoring. She then looked back at the ceiling. She had never felt that way before. She had been scared when he had started falling. Why? She had seen plenty of people fall and hadn't been terrified for them…yet him… Suddenly she felt her cheeks going red and her eyes widened.  
  
No.  
  
She wasn't. She couldn't be.  
  
And as if a light switch turned on, every single memory of Sirius flashed through her mind and she felt her face grow warmer. She thought in her mind as she pressed her face into her pillow.  
  
_"Crap."_

* * *

  
"Ugh…Morning you guys…" Moria grumbled out yawning as she left the bedroom going to the kitchen, her aunt and uncles already up and drinking tea. She looked up at them after she realized how quiet it was. She looked at their stoic and somber faces and she knew…  
  
It was time to visit Malcolm.


	9. Seashells by the Seashore

Alice squealed in delight as she saw the harbor of London.  
  
"Civilization!" she exclaimed happily as she dragged Lily off the boat followed by the boys. Moria wasn't far behind however she was a bit slower on exiting the boat. She glanced at her uncles who walked off the boat, her expression grim.  
  
"Uncle Martin…can you stay with them? Monroe will come with me." she askws softly and under her breath. Martin looked as though he was about to object but glanced at the group that were chatting happily to each other. He realized that if he didn't stay, chances were that someone would do something completely unnecessary.  
  
"Fine...but be careful okay?" he whispered out and Moria snorted.  
  
"I'll be careful. I always am. Just seems that trouble finds its way to me." She grumbled. She waited a little bit until the other teens were looking in the opposite direction, then Moria and Monroe walked away, disappearing into the crowd, walking down the street till they finally reached a building that seemed out of place in the street. It looked sterile compared to the streets and the people who were in its' yard were being accompanied by a nurse, looking withdrawn and some were mumbling to themselves. Moria swallowed and then continued into the building that was labeled **National Health Service Psychiatric Hospital.**  
  
"I still don't see why you have to keep coming here." Monroe complained.  
  
"It's part of the deal. He's still technically my guardian, remember?" She replied coolly. He winced. Why the court system allowed him to be her guardian still angered him to this day. It seemed to be a way of punishing them for abandoning her with that monster. She walked over to the entrance, and was greeted by a smiling nurse who seemed to be forcing the smile. She offered her own slight smile and began to sign in.  
  
"Well look who finally showed up." A voice called out and she froze, listening to Monroe growl slightly in a warning. Slowly she looked up and her eyes connected to the same chocolate colored eyes as hers. Her gaze drifted back to the pen that she was holding and she realized that she was shaking. Finally she exhaled and stopped her shaking, before straightening, and her eyes turned cold.  
  
"Uncle Malcolm."

* * *

  
"Hey where did Moria go?" Sirius asked looking around as the continued down the street. Lily looked behind them, still being dragged by Alice, who then stopped.  
  
"I thought she had gone to the loo or something." She commented, glancing at her watch. "But she's been gone for way too long for a loo run." Lily commented.  
  
"So is Monroe." Remus added realizing that one of the adults had gone missing. Martin became increasingly uncomfortable and shifted his weight. Lily noticed that.  
  
"Mr. Prescott? Do you know where they are?" she asked and he looked away.  
  
"Sort of. Not really allowed…Moria's orders not to tell. Besides it's not a big deal." He explained hurriedly. That sent alarm bells in all the teens' heads.  
  
"Not to tell us what?!"  
  
"What are you hiding!?"   
  
"Look, Moria doesn't want you involved in her having to meet up with Malcolm okay?!" he hissed out then realizing what he just said, cursed under his breath. Lily's jaw had now dropped.  
  
"WHAT!?" she hissed out. He groaned loudly.  
  
"As per a court agreement she has to visit Malcolm once a year. We've tried to overrule it but we couldn't." he explained but Lily grabbed him by the collar.  
  
"Where?!" she hissed out. Martin looked like he was about to object but the rage and concern seen in the teens eyes caused him to back down a little.  
  
"Fine I'll take you there." He conceded. "She'll never let me go on this." He grumbled out and walked down the street, his shoulders slumped as the teens followed quickly behind.

Finally they stopped at the asylum and spotted Monroe standing in the waiting room. He arched a brow when he saw the group before looking at his brother.  
  
"You couldn't keep your mouth shut could you?"  
  
"Oh shut up you arse. What are you doing out here?" Martin replied back angrily.  
  
"They wouldn't allow anyone else but those two in. Said it would 'upset' him. Give me a break." He hissed out glancing back inside. He was close enough where if she yelled he could get to her quickly. He made sure of that. He saw Sirius eyeing the door and he felt a twinge of overprotectiveness. He knew that look. His friends might be blind…but he could see that Sirius liked Moria. More than just friends. He-  
  
His thoughts were broken when he heard a loud scream of a nurse and then shouts of alarm.  
  
"STOP!"  
  
"LET GO!"  
  
 **"MR. PRESCOTT LET GO OF YOUR NIECE!"** a nurse screamed and both Martin and Monroe bolted in. The teens followed in, following the adults and nurses and they turned a corner.  
  
The scene in front of them shocked them. An older man, who looked to be in his late thirties maybe early forties was gripping Moria by her neck, lifting her up till she was suspended in the air her feet dangling off the ground. She was gripping his hands as though to try and get his grip off of her neck, but she wasn't making any attempt to struggle. Her eyes were cold and emotionless, glaring at Malcolm. Suddenly a large male nurse bolted in and tackled Malcolm, causing him to release Moria who slid onto the floor. She sat up slowly, helped by Martin and Monroe. The teens were frozen in shock, staring at the man that was being held down to the ground by nurses.  
  
"YOU BITCH! YOU DISGUSTING LITTLE BITCH!" he snarled out at Moria who continued to stare at him then stood up brushing herself off, her eyes still ice. She only offered a glance before she brushed past her uncles and friends, walking quickly down the steps and exiting, the door closing with a bang.  
  
"Moria!" Sirius called out and the six teens rushed out only to see Moria now running down the street, disappearing behind a corner and into the crowd.

* * *

  
_"Where could she be?"_ Sirius thought as he continued to walk down the street, hearing the sounds of waves crashing at the beach next to him. His thoughts were swirling. Bloody hell, that was what Moria had to deal with for those years in her childhood? No wonder she hadn't wanted to say anything to them. If he had had to go through that he wouldn't have wanted to say anything either. He sighed loudly running his fingers through his hair glancing at the gray beach. And then did a double take.  
  
A young girl was standing alone on the beach, staring out into the ocean. She was barefoot now, her short hair ruffling slightly in the ocean wind. It had grown slightly, but it was still short.  
  
"Moria!" he called out forcing himself not to jump off the street, instead rushing to the nearest stair section, going down the steps, skipping every other one. She didn't move an inch.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
"Of course I am…why wouldn't I be?" she replied softly, finally glancing back at him. He looked at her in confusion and concern.  
  
"Well what happened back there…" he replied and she chuckled softly, smiling bitterly.  
  
"Nearly every meeting has ended like that. There is never a day where he's been kind." She replied picking up a stone and flinging it into the ocean watching it skip across the top. He looked at her confused. She stood there, just staring at the surf, listening to the seagulls squawking.  
  
"You know when I was always younger I would compare people to seashells." She said and he looked at her in confusion. She stooped down and picked up several shells, shifting them in her hands, the wet sand clumping together. She dusted off one shell and held it up for him to look at: a pure white seashell, the edges smooth and whole.  
  
"This would be Lily. Pure, beautiful, but still strong." She commented and placed the shell back on the ground. She then picked up a baby blue swirled shell, speckled with white.  
  
"This would be Alice. Innocent but still always fun and caring." She continued placing that shell on the ground. She held up a unique shell that one side was white, the other side black.  
  
"This is Remus. There are two sides to him. One that he considers good. The other he considers is evil." She commented. She glanced at a light orange shell that was next to the blue shell.  
  
"The orange shell would be Frank. He's quiet and tends to not mind being in the background. She lifted a multicolored shell and smirked slightly.  
  
"This would be James. He's every personality rolled into one and you never know what he's going to be like when you talk to him." She commented and he chuckled. She then picked up a rather ordinary shaped shell; however it was an odd color, most likely due to being in the water for however many years.  
  
"This would be you."  
  
"Gee. Thanks." He responded sarcastically.  
  
"Would you let me finish?" she asked with a bit of humor in her voice. She glanced at the shell.  
  
"You've always told us that your family has hated muggle-born witches and wizard, hated muggles in general for as long as you could remember and that every person in your family was seated in Slytherin. But here you are a Gryffindor student, and despite your three best friends being from pure-blood wizards, are friends with muggles. Your unique—in a good way— compared to your family." She said and he looked shocked and almost touched.  
  
She then tossed him his 'shell' and picked up a rough looking shell, cracked, one side of it having broken off in the surf, small holes patterning the shell. It was an ugly gray color with scarred white areas most likely from broken off barnacles. She looked at it roving it in her hand.  
  
"This would be me."  
  
"Mori-!" he began but then watched it as she chucked into the surf, the shell hitting the wave with a small 'KER-PLOP'. She looked at the surf with a bit of anger.  
  
"Broken, out of place, scarred both in figurative and literal meaning. An annoyance to people. Nothing makes me special." She said softly, placing a hand on her neck, knowing it would most likely bruise. She heard him walk up a bit to her and she turned, and was startled at how close he was to her now.  
  
"You're wrong. About yourself." He responded to her and she glanced up at his face before looking away. He shifted uncomfortably where he stood.  
  
"Alright. I'll try it your way." He conceded. "You compared yourself to a broken sea shell that everyone dislikes because they don't 'fit in' and they aren't exactly the most attractive." He said and saw her shift slightly in her stance.  
  
"Well I…" He trailed off. "None of us see you like that. If I were going to compare you to a shell it would be those tiny shells…cokina?"  
  
"Coquina." She corrected him, raising a brow at him almost in shock and in amusement that he was actually trying this. He looked so embarrassed at the moment trying to figure a way to explain how she was to him…to them, without sounding completely and utterly like a fool.  
  
"Yeah those. Alright I'll try to say how they compare to you. Don't laugh."  
  
"Since when have I ever laughed at what you said?" she asked and he glanced at her with a 'don't try and kid with me' look.  
  
"Many times." He responded earning a slightly mirthful smirk. There she was. The Moria he had grown up with at Hogwarts. "Look. Coquina shells are fragile, and most of the time missing a half because something has broken it. But even if they are missing a piece of themselves, they still are beautiful, and stuff." He explained and she blinked in astonishment. "Okay…how weird did that sound?" He asked, his face now rivaling a tomato and she was pretty sure he was mentally kicking himself for sounding like a moron. But right at that moment she didn't really care how much he didn't sound like himself. Right then, it was exactly what she had needed to hear. She smiled and then laughed, shaking her head.  
  
"It didn't sound weird at all." She replied, pushing back some of her hair. "Who knew you were a poet."  
  
"If you breathe a word about this I will deny everything."  
  
"My lips are sealed." She replied quietly and smiled at him. "Thanks." He grinned then heard Lily and Alice calling for Moria. He turned slightly before being nearly pushed into the water by Lily and Alice who barreled to Moria, nearly tackling her, and asking her a flurry of questions. She answered them softly, keeping pace with her friends. Apparently satisfied, Alice and Lily began to drag her back to the streets. Moria glanced at Sirius and they made eye contact.  
  
She smiled at him softly in thanks before following the two girls. James, Frank, and Remus all looked at Sirius in confusion.  
  
"What was that smile all about?" James asked looking at Sirius curiously. Sirius shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets, and smirked slight as he ran his thumb over the shell that Moria had given to him.  
  
"Not a clue." He replied and with that the boys followed the girls back to the street.


	10. Chapter 10

"You did what?!" Lily exclaimed looking at Martin. Moria stared at him as well, her expression surprise as Martin shrugged, drinking his coffee.  
  
"You told us that you needed something to talk about for your project. Well we have the annual talent contest here in two weeks. There isn't a lot of people this year with the fact that so many people are gone with their own jobs. So I signed you up. You're welcome to drop out though. It's not mandatory. It's just an option." Martin suggested.  
  
"That seems cool." James responded and Sirius nodded grinning. Moria kept her gaze down on her plate, shifting around her egg that she had been eating. Remus, Lily, Alice and Frank however shook their heads.  
  
"No thank you…sorry." Alice said smiling apologetically. Martin laughed.  
  
"So we have two, I'm assuming?" He questioned. James and Sirius looked at each other and grinned mischievously.  
  
"Oh we're bloody entering. Moria? What about you?" James asked and the Prescott clan looked at each other. Knowing her she would probably say no. She hadn't done anything involving talent displays in years. Moria was silent for several seconds then swallowed.  
  
"…Sure…" she said softly. James and Sirius whooped while the Prescott's looked at her in shock. Moria kept her gaze trained on the table as James and Sirius began discussing what they were going to do.

* * *

  
"Bloody hell...are my ears bleeding?" Alice hissed out as they sat down listening to some local girl attempt to sing a version of **Nine Million Bicycles**.  
  
"Not yet." Frank replied coughing slightly. "But it's pretty close." This girl had come right after Sirius and James who had decided to do a comedy skit. It had been hilarious and light-hearted and everybody had enjoyed it, even Lily who had begrudgingly laughed at their antics. Now they were stuck with a girl who obviously thought she was the best was belching out the notes. Sadly she was tone-deaf and had no rhythm. James and Sirius cringed and acted like they were dying. For once Lily made no attempt to protect the girl as she was too busy cringing at the shrieks that were coming out of the woman's mouth. Soon after the girl ended and skipped off, the audience being polite clapped slightly. Several minutes of silence.  
  
"Who's next?" Lily whispered out to Remus. He flipped through the directory.  
  
"Moria apparently. She's last." He stated. As soon as he finished they heard an introductory clap and looked up as Moria walked out onto stage. She was clearly nervous as she faced the crowd. Soon after a slow tune from a stereo system began to play. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. When she began to sing, everything seemed to fall silent for Sirius as he stared at her. He had never really considered her to be a singer. Granted she tended to be in the background more often than not, but still...her voice was low and soft, almost unsure of how it sounded. She opened her eyes and glanced at him, and he could swear she was smirking, a soft blush growing on her face before she looked away, continuing her song and he swallowed roughly. The tune ended and she glanced up at the crowd who were now in shock. Quickly she bowed and then left the stage. After a few short seconds of silence, people began to clap loudly. The teens were just staring at the empty stage and then scurried away, entering the back of the theater. After a few minutes of searching, they found her sitting on the back of the stage. Alice and Lily tackled her.  
  
"Moria, when did you learn to sing like that?!" Lily exclaimed and Moria blinked then laughed softly.  
  
"My parents were both singers." Moria stated jokingly pointing at her throat. "It's in the genes." She finished laughing as Alice hugged her again. She glanced up at Sirius who was looking away and felt her cheeks begin to burn and she swallowed roughly.

* * *

  
The house was filled with laughter and chatting. Apparently after the talent show everyone in the town would go to the Prescott house for some food and drink. It was then that Sirius noticed that Moria wasn't in the group of partiers. He somehow managed to escape without the others and exited. He shook slightly, the cooler air hitting him. He glanced out into the field and spotted Moria resting on the side of the bank. She glanced up when he approached her and grinned.  
  
"And here I thought you would be the center of the party." She stated and he shrugged.  
  
"I normally am wingman for James and he is completely capable to handle himself right now. Besides, it's not really a party if one of the group is missing." He replied. She laughed softly.  
  
"I needed some time to think." She responded. He looked at her, and she looked at the sky.  
  
"About?"  
  
"A lot of things. It's been years since I sang. At least in front of a crowd. There were a lot of things I stopped when my parents were killed. Singing was one of them. I never had a reason to. But I can't keep hiding in the past…doing that I guess is the step in the right direction." She said. He sat down next to her looking at her. She blushed slightly, thankful that it was dark now.  
  
"You know…I'm rather shocked that you haven't gotten a bloke at Hogwarts." He said and she finally laughed.  
  
"Right. Who would want to date the 'ice-queen of Hogwarts'?" she joked. "Name one."  
  
"I would." He said without thinking and she blinked and looked at him in shock. He then realized what he said and abruptly stood his face a deep red, which even in the dark was noticeable. She stood up as well her face registering shock.  
  
"I…I…" he began to stutter and back up about ready to run. She quickly grabbed his sleeve.  
  
"Did you mean that?" she asked. He looked at her confused.  
  
"Mean what?"  
  
"Don't play stupid arse, did you really mean that?" She snapped, her face now noticeably red. Curiously he stopped trying to escape and looked at her. They were silent, just staring at each other, the faded sounds of the music echoing to the beach. Suddenly Sirius pulled her to him and kissed her.  
  
He felt her stiffen in his grip, then her relax relenting to the kiss. He moved away, breathing heavily unable to look at her eyes.  
  
"Bloody hell…sorry…" he whispered out.  
  
"Shut up. Just shut up." She breathed and kissed him gripping his jacket. He blinked in shock then like she had done before, returned the kiss. Seconds passed before they broke apart. She looked up at him and smiled slightly and he couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Bloody hell we'll never hear the end of this." She said smiling as she rested her head on his chest. He frowned slightly, glancing at the top of her head. Their friends were the least of his worries. He didn't care if his family hated the idea of him having a muggle-born witch for a girlfriend…but he worried about their actions towards her. They already annoyed and bullied Moria. If they found out about them…there would be no end to the harassment aimed at Moria and would most likely worsen.  
  
"Then let's not tell anyone." He murmured and she looked at him in confusion.  
  
"You know things between purebloods and muggle-born witches and wizards are getting hostile. I know that our friends could care less. And I don't really care about my family, but it would kill me to see you being harassed by them."  
  
"They already do." She refuted looking at him skeptically. He pushed a bang behind her ear.  
  
"They'll harass you worse to get to me. This is my family." He said. She sighed and glanced at the house, then back at him. She kissed him lightly then nodded.  
  
"Alright. But right after the 7th year we tell everyone else." She compromised and he grinned.  
  
"Sure thing. Shall we?" he asked with a bit of amusement in his voice, extending his hand to her. She laughed and together they returned back to the house.

* * *

  
Bellatrix sat in the parlor of her family's mansion waiting expectedly for the visitor that was coming. She didn't know where Andromeda was, but Narcissa was sitting in a cushioned chair nearby. She looked up when they heard their house-elf answer the door. She heard a loud hiss as their mother shooed away the annoying creature. Hurriedly she stood up and smoothed out her dress and hurried out to the loft above the front door.  
  
It was then she saw him and watched as her mother curtsied low to the man in front of her.  
  
"Welcome Lord Voldemort."


End file.
